Des Moines police are investigating six shootings in one week, all within a mile of each other in a Des Moines neighborhood.

Police said they see this type of activity every year as the cold weather starts to fade away, but it's no less troubling. They are asking for the public's help to figure out who has been pulling the triggers.

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"Well I mean, you know, you're glad to be alive, glad you didn't get hit. It just seems to be something you have to get used to around here, you know, guns," said Sequoiyah Bueford, longtime resident.

Bueford has lived just north of downtown Des Moines for more than 50 years.

"It's a nice neighborhood, it really is," said Bueford.

He said, unfortunately, the sound of gunfire is far from uncommon.

"I was just lying in bed and I heard a bunch of, I thought it was a string of firecrackers. I thought some kids were doing firecrackers or something, and I looked out my window and saw a bunch of lights over there," said Bueford.

The lights were really gunfire, part of a week-long series of shootings in the area.

"Certainly someone in the public knows what's going on. With the public's help, these cases can all be solved," said Des Moines police spokesman Sgt. Jason Halifax.

The shootings range from shots fired into the air to bullets hitting and passing through the walls of homes. So far no one has been seriously hurt in any of the incidents.

"There is some reason to be concerned, only because, if no other reason, we have bullets flying around," said Halifax.

"Summer is coming, a lot of people don't have jobs so it's going to be one of those summers," said Bueford.

Because of the yearly increase in crime around this time of year, Des Moines police have a special enforcement team they deploy. Police are considering activating the team early this year.